Optoelectronic components of the aforementioned type, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), for example, generally have two opposite contact areas, the first contact area often being mounted onto an electrically conductive carrier, for example onto a region of a chip housing that is provided with a metallization layer.
The electrical contact-connection of the opposite second contact area of a semiconductor chip usually turns out to be more difficult since it generally does not adjoin the carrier body's second connection region provided. This second contact-connection is conventionally produced by means of a bonding wire. In order to produce an electrically conductive connection between the bonding wire and the chip surface to be contact-connected, a region of the chip surface is provided with a metallic layer, the so-called bonding pad. This metal layer has the disadvantage, however, that it is optically non-transparent and a portion of the light generated in the chip is thereby absorbed. However, a reduction of the area of the bonding pad technically possible only to a limited extent and increases the production outlay.
In order to decrease the problem of the shading of part of the surface of an optoelectronic component that is provided for the coupling out of radiation, it is known from JP 09283801 A for an electrode arranged on the surface of the semiconductor chip to be contact-connected in a wire-free manner by means of an electrically conductive transparent layer composed of indium tin oxide (ITO). In this case, the lateral flanks of the semiconductor chip are electrically insulated from the conductive transparent layer by an insulating layer made of SiO2.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,861 A for an optoelectronic semiconductor chip that is contact-connected by means of a bonding wire in a conventional manner to be embedded into a potting composition containing luminescence conversion substances in order to convert at least a portion of the radiation emitted by the semiconductor chip toward longer wavelengths. In this way, mixed-color or white light can be generated for example with a semiconductor chip that emits blue or ultraviolet light.